


everyone deserves a chance to fly

by hexmionegranger



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Anyways, Dragons, F/M, Fluff, Love, No Ron Bashing!, Romance, and then a little fluff, dragon tamer, mostly slow burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-09
Updated: 2016-12-09
Packaged: 2018-09-07 12:27:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8800825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hexmionegranger/pseuds/hexmionegranger
Summary: Matters of the heart were not always rational, but Hermione deserved a chance at freedom. Unable to find it through travel, she goes to Romania to learn more about the creatures who are held back for our safety and the people who care for them. Instead, she learns that sometimes, you are the most free when you have someone else to ground you.





	

When Hermione had pictured dating a Weasley, it had always been Ron. Ron, with his big heart and his big stomach and his warm arms wrapped around her. Ron, who always somehow smelled like cookies and who couldn’t dance to save his life, and leapt headfirst into danger to save her and Harry. Ron, who she thought was her soulmate.

Except, matters of the heart are not always rational. And matters of the mind are sometimes even less so. 

Ron wanted to settle down, to have a career, to live close to his family and go home every Sunday night for dinner and started talking about how many children they’d have two weeks after the war. Ron deserved to be happy. Ron deserved to not live in anyones shadow. 

Hermione deserved freedom.

They broke clean and even, mostly because there wasn’t much to break. They both insisted it was just temporary, just until they knew who they were, just until everything was settled. They both knew this wasn’t true.

Hermione had packed up her things and left the country.

Australia was a fraught endeavour. Her parents were alive and well, and no matter what she did she couldn’t reverse her memory charm. The Wilkins were thriving, and Hermione had a new crown on her back molar, and she decided she needed to go before her heart shattered.

She moved around a lot, the first few months. She had some reward money from her Order of Merlin, and she used it to explore, to learn about wizarding culture across the globe. Hermione spent time in Russia, in America, in Brazil, and Germany, and China, and Nepal, and Kenya, and ended up sleeping on Viktor Krum’s couch in Bulgaria for a few weeks. 

By then she was starting to get tired, but her heart still wasn’t ready for England again. She had been writing letters to Harry, and apparently Ron had run into Susan Bones and the two were insufferably in love. Harry and Ginny were already talking about their wedding, and Neville and Hannah had moved in together. It was too much, too much, too much. 

Staying with Viktor had reminded her of a hundred things, but the main one was that she wanted someone she could talk to. He was lovely, kind and determined and careful. But their conversations fell flat and the silence dredged on.

The best thing Viktor did for her was mention that he had spent some time during the war down in Romania, learning about dragons, and that it had been fascinating discovering flight from a new perspective. Something in her leapt and she had travel plans arranged two days later. Viktor kissed her forehead and made her promise she’d write, and his eyes twinkled in a way that reminded her, unnervingly, of Dumbledore when he was scheming.

\---

Hermione had touched down in Romania and gone almost immediately to the dragon reserve. She’d sent an owl ahead of her and received an enthusiastic response back that yes, they were definitely looking for assistance. A lot of their keepers from the UK had gone back to fight in the war, and some had stayed behind for a little while. A few had died, and a few more were just not willing to leave their families and come back to the reserve.

They were running on a barebones staff and Hermione threw herself into the work. She didn’t have a lot of education on the creatures, but there was still important work to be done. The reserve had been raided by Death Eaters and many of the enclosures were damaged, and fixing those was a large job due to the amount of protective spells that needed to be enacted. Hermione was excellent at performing such charms and was put to work nearly immediately.

There was also the matter of a group of eggs which had lost their mother - she’d been injured in the raid and never recovered. They required nearly round the clock care, casting warming charms and turning them over and checking them to ensure the trauma of the raid hadn’t injured any of the babies. Hermione might not have yet been ready to work with the adult dragons, but she could handle the eggs. It was a peaceful quiet job with them, and she spent most of the time reading and learning as much as she could. It was hard work - tiring and long days most of the time. Physical more than mental. But it was also excellent for getting lost in and using to forget the rest of her problems.

At least, until the day where she had been sitting in the mess hall eating dinner and heard a whoop of joy and a loud familiar voice calling out “I’m back! Anyone here?”

Hermione had looked up just as the flap to the tent was pulled back and there in the opening was a shade of red hair she’d finally just started to put out of her mind. It wasn’t that she had quite forgotten that Charlie had worked here - though she had, when she originally showed up. But, things had been so tough for all of the Weasleys, she just hadn’t been expecting to see him.

Things were a little awkward between them at first. Charlie was getting used to her as a capable adult, not just his little brothers friend who came round for holidays. Hermione was getting used to Charlie as not Ron - even though she knew of course he was different, it was hard to see familiar features on a face and not start connecting two people in your mind.

Charlie was different though, than any of the Weasleys. She decided he was most similar to Ginny, though even still that wasn’t close to explaining his personality. Charlie was shorter than Ron, and bulky through his shoulders. His arms were covered in burn marks and scrapes, he wore his hair pulled into a bun on the back of his head, and occasionally when he moved and his shirt shifted she caught a glimpse of a giant tattoo spanning the length of his back. His voice was deeper and his laugh filled whatever space he happened to be in. And he was smart - sharp as a tack with a scathing wit and a dry sense of humour. He knew more about dragons than most people on the reserve, and she often ran into him in the library rereading books he’d already read and writing notes in the margins with information he had learned.

They ended up working together a lot. Hermione was there when the eggs started hatching and Charlie arrived shortly after, and he started teaching her the basics of dragon care because she wasn’t going to live on a reserve and not learn how to look after the things. The baby dragons bonded to them more than anyone else (if by “bonded” you mean “bit them slightly less”) and thus they ended up on the project together most days.

\---

It took three months for him to kiss her. The dragons were finally asleep and Hermione was sitting on the ground, examining her singed arm hair and rubbing at the patch of shiny skin leftover from the burn. Charlie was next to her and when he asked if she was okay, she shot him an incredulous look and burst out laughing. They were practically the mothers of four baby dragons and Hermione might never even grow arm hair again and for the first time since the war she felt alive and free and then Charlie leaned over and caught face in his hands and he kissed her.

Rationally, it probably should have been strange. Kissing the older brother of your ex boyfriend, who was also your coworker and currently one of your best friends. Instead, it felt incredible. Charlie’s hands were rough and he had a bit of a beard that scratched at her skin but his lips were smooth and his mouth tasted like mint. It was familiar and unfamiliar all at once and Hermione realized she was definitely in trouble. Because you definitely were not supposed to crush on your ex boyfriends older brother. You especially were not supposed to let him kiss you, or slide your fingers into his hair and kiss him back.

You were not supposed to fall in love.

Hermione couldn’t seem to help it.

Their friendship morphed into a relationship smoothly and elegantly, and before Hermione even really realized what had happened she had all but moved entirely into his tent. They fell into that same comfortable pattern together, bantering constantly, challenging each others knowledge. Hermione loved the way he sounded when he laughed and decided that she wanted to make him laugh every day. Charlie loved the way she sounded when she moaned, and made a similar promise.

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally going to also feature Oliver Wood, but I couldn't get him in and I finally decided that he wasn't meant for this story and that I was happy with just Charlie and Hermione. This is pretty light, a little fluffy, and not really that romantic, but I hope you like it all the same! Also posted on tumblr.


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